Why AI could be bad news for jobseekers

We’re seeing more and more apps that are using AI (apparently) to help jobseekers. Some we rate more than others, like the ones that help determine whether you should be applying to a role – good camp. But not apps that change CV contents, write covering letters or auto-apply – bad camp.

We believe that they fall into the bad camp as these kinds of actions will just exacerbate the existing, broken recruitment system for jobseekers as there will be even more (unqualified) applicants applying for jobs. Perhaps 10x? So, instead of 200 applicants for a single vacancy, there could be 2,000. Yuck. And that becomes the ‘new norm’, with jobseekers becoming even more disheartened in the process.

Our stance is that jobseekers actually lose out, collectively making it more difficult and increasing the odds of being ignored after applying. 

More importantly, if jobseekers let AI take the lead, applicants ‘on paper’ will begin to look and sound the same. The end result is that you, the jobseeker, get lost in the crowd of the many because you don’t stand out anymore. Plus, AI content can be identified as such by humans. 

In response to increased volumes, recruiters will ‘retaliate’ aka change the rules of the game. They could:

  • Ban the use of AI by jobseekers (we’re already seeing companies warn applicants about their use of AI)
  • Be more demanding with yet even more questions on application forms
  • Add more stages to their hiring process
  • Use different methods to sift through applications differently
  • Add a ‘check’ stage BEFORE applications are considered complete

The good news is that we have that check stage covered. We’re a different method because we believe that…:

  • … less is more
  • … covering letters aren’t needed
  • … tailoring CVs for each vacancy is unnecessary
  • … verification should happen as soon as possible, upfront instead of happening towards the end of the hiring process

What a wonderful time to become the next job board 3.0. Let the games begin!


Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *